Warmer Weather

The Professor is standing next to a car that has not been moved in a long time. It is now between two monster piles of snow. The snow on the car is settling so it does not look as buried as it once did. The snow has settled over time. The professor said, "Do you think anyone would believe that there is a car UNDER that huge pile of snow?" Probably not.

Today walking to a restaurant for lunch, we saw some of the problems that have arisen because of the warmer weather. It has not got above freezing according to our thermometer but the roads are mush and the edge of the inlet is thawing. Did I send you the picture of the men on the inlet ice fishing? There were still a couple of guys out on the ice closer to the Gulf of Finland. However, on the side of the bridge where the water diminishes there is brown water along the sides.

We noticed people looking over the edge of the bridge, so of course we had to look too. On the bank there was a man in his scuba gear. There was a huge red emergency vehicle. Close to us on the bridge there were two other emergency workers. The man on the shore seemed to be looking to them to tell him what else he should do. Needless to say, we have no idea what he was diving for. It was evident that he had not found it. Obviously it had to be something valuable enough to call out this crew. But we sure hope they were not looking for a body.

On the lighter side, we saw three truck loads of young people. College age, maybe. They were shouting and waving and they even threw us candy when they saw me taking pictures. The last truck had a sign on it in English. Part of it said, "Throw your hats in the air.." I don't know if they were out campaigning for someone or what was going on. Dad said that sitting next to the window he had heard them go by several times today.

The other interesting sight we saw was these two men who were out cleaning off the tram tracks. Usually the tracks are clear even though they look as if they are down in a white canyon. The snow and ice builds up to about two or three inches on either side of the rail. With the slush, some of the rails have started to be buried in muddy brown snow. These two were out trying to get this track clear so the business of running the tram could get back going.

Note from a friend:

...the Penkkarit parade! It means 'press the bench', but no one knows why they call it that. It is officially the last day of school today for Grade 12 kids. To celebrate they decorate a lorry and drive around town. I wonder if the lorry that had English on it was from the International school.

We can't figure out how it's the last day of school since they still have to do exams and don't officially graduate until June 1.